The Hammer of the Gods
by grimwyre
Summary: A sequel to The Amber Spyglass. Please help me with your reviews.
1. Default Chapter

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story.  
  
Lyra woke up suddenly. She was fully awake instantly, as if she had heard a scream or cry of alarm. But there was nothing. Just the simple sounds of the night.  
  
She looked to the window and saw light dimly filtering through the thin curtains. It was early. She had started to wake up early more and more and she knew she would not be able to go back to sleep again.  
  
She lay in bed and wondered what Will was doing.  
  
"Sleeping." Pantalaimon suggested.  
  
Lyra hoped so. She hoped he was warm and comfortable and asleep. She hoped that he had not been in as much trouble as he had thought and that his Mother was better and . and . she hoped that he was happy.  
  
She felt the tears start to run down her face as they had done so often before and Pan moved to sit on the covers above her chest and looked at her.  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." He gently licked the tears off her face.  
  
"It isn't your fault Pan. It isn't anyone's fault." She stroked his glossy fur. "Will and I made our decision to have our full life even if it had to be apart." But she did not say whether she still thought that they had made the right choice.  
  
She had started to have doubts a few months after returning to her own world. Those doubts had increased rather than diminished until now, nearly two years later, she was sure that they had done the wrong thing. Although it had felt like a choice at the time she now felt as if they had been backed into a corner at a time when they were vulnerable.  
  
Pan stayed very quiet. Lyra believed that he was feeling guilty over his part in what had happened even though she had been the one to abandon him at first. She held him tight to let him know she would never part from him again.  
  
"Come on Pan we might as well get up. Since we are awake we can make a start on the new books."  
  
Lyra was making slow but steady progress with the alethiometer. She had despaired at first of ever being able to read the simplest things but her innate stubbornness had refused to let her give in and with Dame Hannah's guidance the instrument was again starting to be of some use. She had thought of asking it how Will was but she had not dared. In her darkest hours she thought of him in jail separated from his Mother, or on the run from the men who had been chasing him before or being bullied at school. She could not imagine Will making friends easily. What would she do if the Alethiometer told her he was alone or afraid? What would she do if it told him he was dead?  
  
"No! No! He is alive. I know he is. I would know if anything had happened!" But a harsh little voice from inside her said, "How could you know? He is in a different world and the next time you see him will be in the land of the dead."  
  
Lyra sat at the little desk next to her bed and opened the first of the new alethiometer books. Studying was coming easier to her than she would have thought possible. Being one of the first of the new pupils at St Sophia's had helped her to settle in quickly. She was determined to catch up on everything she had missed and the teachers were delighted to have someone who was so keen to learn.  
  
Making friends and being able to approach people had always been one of her strong points. She would not tell lies to draw attention to herself anymore and she could tell her new classmates very little of what had happened to her but the tales of her childhood fascinated the rich and well-to-do girls of the boarding school. She had mentioned Will once and had to explain that he had gone far away and she would never see him again and her new friends were full of sympathy. They had suggested she write to him and didn't understand why she couldn't.  
  
She had tried writing a letter, knowing he could never receive it, just to try to express her feelings. She had screwed the letter up in frustration and thrown it in the waste paper basket. Then she had retrieved it, smoothed out the creases and hidden it.  
  
She heard a noise from outside, down in the quadrangle. She went to the window and looked down. In the early dawn light she could see a large cart coming though the gateway, only just being able to squeeze through. Something was on the back of the cart covered with a tarpaulin. It seemed a rather strange time to be making a delivery but Jordan was renowned for its collection of philosophical apparatus for the chapel and Lyra assumed that this just another piece of equipment. There had been more and more delivered recently although it wasn't called philosophical apparatus anymore and there wasn't a chaplain and the name experimental theology was no longer used.  
  
A door leading into the quadrangle opened and to Lyra's surprise the Master appeared. His health was declining and she hardly saw him about at all never mind at this time in the morning. Relying heavily on his walking stick he moved towards the carters.  
  
Lyra had seen enough. Something unusual was going on and she wanted to be part of it.  
  
"It probably isn't anything Pan," she said when he complained about having to leave the warm bed, " but it might be interesting. Come on, where is your sense of adventure? Anyway you can stay in bed if you want."  
  
"Oh yes! And what will the carters say when they see you without a daemon?" The reluctant Pine Marten dragged himself up and then scampered off down the stairs forcing Lyra to run to catch up with him. "Even if it turns out to be dull at least it's a distraction for the moment," he thought.  
  
After her headlong dash down the stairs Lyra walked respectfully up to the Master. His eyesight was failing and he did not recognize her until she was very close to him.  
  
"Ah. Lyra. What are you doing up at this ridiculous hour of the day?"  
  
"I woke up early Master. I seem to do it all the time at the moment."  
  
"Hmmm. Well if this lot don't keep the noise down we will have the whole population of Jordan watching. Well since you're up and about you can take a look at this and give me your opinion. This object has been sent to us for investigation. Several people have come up with theories about it, apparently, but no one is really sure. They found it when the College of St. Jerome was being demolished."  
  
"Where is that, Master?"  
  
"Oh come on Lyra you said you were awake. The College of St. Jerome in Geneva. The Consistorial Court of Discipline. It was being demolished after the Court was dissolved last month. This was found up on the roof but very cleverly hidden. No one will admit to knowing anything about it."  
  
The Consistorial Court of Discipline had only been dissolved last month but it had had no real power since Lyra had returned to Oxford. None of the old church bodies had any real power, but in some ways this was leading to other problems. In some areas the rule of law was still in place, but elsewhere there was anarchy and no one with the authority to impose order. The devastation caused to some areas by the opening of the gateway in the North had led to starvation and despair. Few mourned for the passing of the church but it was still not clear what form of government would replace it.  
  
"The republic of heaven is a very long way away," whispered Lyra to herself.  
  
This was another thing that she had nagging away at her. How could she make a difference? When Xaphania had talked about helping people to learn and understand and gain in wisdom it had seemed so right. But now as she looked at her world falling apart she did not understand what Xaphania thought she, Lyra, would be able to do. People were more concerned with looking after themselves. She was barely fifteen years old with no power, no influence, nothing. Will and she had agreed to live their lives separately so they would have their whole lives to build the republic of heaven. But now that she had realised the size of the task she did not believe that she could do it on her own.  
  
Iorek could not help her with this task.  
  
Serafina Pekkala had visited her several times but the witches themselves were in disarray. So many had been killed in the battle on the plain that they had tried to merge some of the clans. This had gone badly wrong. Old feuds had been recalled and more blood spilled. The last time Serafina had visited she had stayed for a few hours only before a message had called her away.  
  
The Gyptians had returned to their way of life wandering the waterways but had found themselves even more mistrusted than before. Like so many other people they were just trying to survive.  
  
The carters were carefully lowering the object to the floor. It was large and the carters had eventually assembled a small gantry with a block and tackle. They worked quickly but Lyra thought they would have found it a lot easier if they had taken the tarpaulin off. To her surprise they did not do that even when the object was on the ground. Instead they moved the cart away and started to put up a large tent like a marquee over the site. Once that was up the foreman came across to the Master and the Master agreed he could leave. Before the Master could say anything Lyra had ducked under the side of the tent. The Master joined her staring at the object.  
  
"Well then. Make yourself useful. Let's have a proper look at it. I don't know who will be the best person to deal with this."  
  
Lyra pulled the sheet to one side. It slid off easily and she gasped.  
  
"What is it Lyra?" The Master stared at her, trying to focus.  
  
"I have seen this before or one very like it. It was during the battle on the plain. One of these flew past us."  
  
"A flying machine? Well it doesn't look anything like a zeppelin or a gyropter. If you have seen one before it makes you the expert I suppose. I suppose that I will have to include you on the team to investigate the thing."  
  
The Master looked closely at Lyra and saw the tears rolling down her face again as the memory of the craft reminded her that the last time she had seen one she had been with Will.  
  
"How long is it until Midsummer's day?" he asked gently.  
  
"It's in five days time," she sobbed.  
  
"Then think of midday in five days time," he said kindly knowing how much she was looking forward to that time and of how much she dreaded the time just after.  
  
Lyra tried to smile through her tears and gazed at the Intention craft in front of her. 


	2. whole

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
A double decker bus full of school children drew up at a bus stop in a quiet suburban area of Oxford. A single boy jumped off. His hair was dark and he looked to be about fifteen years old.  
  
His friends on the top deck of the bus were banging on the windows and as he looked up a ball of screwed up paper hit him on the shoulder. He looked to see who had done it but it was a smiling face and he waved to Liam, the boy who had befriended him when he started at the school nearly two years ago. He waved with his right hand, as he was still reluctant to risk drawing attention to his left.  
  
The bus pulled away, the children on it laughing and joking. It was Friday afternoon. School was over for the week, the exams were over and it was nearly the summer holidays. There was plenty to be happy about.  
  
The boy looked around to see if anyone was watching and undid his school bag. A large cat emerged. If anyone had been watching they would have found it hard to say exactly what colour the cat was. Black? Grey? The cat and boy walked along the street and into another. They crossed the road and walked up the path of the small house, which was their home.  
  
Will Parry let himself in and dumped his school bag in the hall. He didn't bother to call out that he was home because he knew that there was no one else there. Mary had decided that after last Midsummer's day she would go away for the weekend taking his mother with her.  
  
Kirjava bounded up to the window in the front room. She sat on the window ledge viewing the street outside but there was no sign of anyone. She stayed watching for a while and then joined Will in the kitchen.  
  
"All clear as far as I can see," she reported. Will nodded absently.  
  
He was finding it harder to contain his excitement. Tomorrow was THE day. The best day of the year. Midsummer's day. He nearly burned himself on the grill and forced himself to concentrate on cooking. He had already made his plans for tomorrow. What time he was going to get up, which bus he had to catch, where to get something to eat before he went to the botanical gardens. After that he had no idea what he would do. He didn't want to think about anything after the gardens.  
  
"We need to handle it better this year," Kirjava said. Will looked at her this time and then nodded again.  
  
He ate his meal watching television, Mary normally objected to him doing that so he was taking advantage of her not being around. There were some things he could only discuss with her. But. But in some ways life was easier without her. Will felt guilty at that thought. He owed Mary so much. On the other hand.  
  
Returning to his own world had been much easier than Will had dared think. The man he had accidentally killed was a member of the security services who had been conducting an illegal search. The security services had no intention of disclosing what they had been doing to the police and the man's body had been quietly disposed of and the house tidied up and locked. If they were still interested in Will there had been no sign of it.  
  
His mother had been fine. Mrs. Cooper had willingly looked after her until she found out Will had been reported as missing, that was the real reason his photo had been in the papers, not because of the dead security service agent. She had then carried on for a short while before eventually going to the police.  
  
The authorities had not been happy about his re-appearance with Mary Malone, who they wanted to interview regarding the destruction of computer equipment. However, the apparent disappearance of Sir Charles had caused confusion with several government departments wanting to know what had been going on and none of them wanting to take responsibility.  
  
Will and Mary stuck to their basic story that she was an old family friend who had taken Will away to give him a break from looking after his mother. Mary denied all knowledge of the damage at the laboratory or of entering the tent on Sunderland Avenue. The new security guard at the lab had not been seen again. As there was no proof, indeed there seemed to have been no good reason for a policeman to be on guard there at all, Mary could not be charged with anything.  
  
Fortunately Will's mother had several good periods at just the right times for interviews with Social Services and Will was not taken into care. On the surface his Mother appeared normal and he had Mary to help look after her. Given that there were more urgent demands on Social services' time and resources Will was able to quietly slip through the net of bureaucracy.  
  
The move from Winchester to Oxford was his idea. He wanted a fresh start somewhere and if Mary didn't think the continued association with Oxford was a good idea she kept her thoughts to herself.  
  
In many ways it had been good. He had been nervous starting at a new school but he had seen how Lyra had made friends easily and he forced himself to go up to other children in the class and start conversations with them. To his surprise he found his classmates quite happy to include him. Liam, the paper thrower from the bus and the class joker, had involved Will in everything that was going on and to Will's even greater surprise he had found he was popular. With Mary at home to look after his mother it was easier to have friends back to hi house. To his embarrassment several of the girls in the class seemed to like him as well and he found that hard to deal with when his thoughts kept returning to Lyra.  
  
Like Lyra doubts had begun to surface in his mind. His world was not in the same turmoil as hers but he could not see the path he had to take. When he had told Xaphania that he would decide what he would do with his life it had seemed an easy thing to say. Also like Lyra he could not see how he could make any difference to the world. He had considered a life in politics but even if he succeeded Britain seemed to be a fading power in the world.  
  
Unlike Lyra he always had someone to speak to about what had happened but in some ways it made matters worse. Mary had eventually stopped talking about Lyra because of the hurt it so obviously caused him. Last midsummer's day Will had spent the entire afternoon and evening at the botanical gardens until it had closed. He had then wandered the streets, missed his last bus home and eventually arrived back home in the early hours of the morning to find Mary frantic with worry. She had demanded to know where he had been and because of his mood he had exploded, blaming Mary for his separation from Lyra and storming out of the house again.  
  
Of course he had apologized in the morning but Mary secretly started to blame herself and their friendship became strained. Will started to think more and more about the events in the world of the Mulefa and started to come to the same conclusions as Lyra.  
  
Will washed up the dishes and forced himself to do the weekends homework. Kirjava prowled around the house. Halfway through an equation Will wondered what Lyra was doing. Kirjava jumped up onto his desk and looked deep into his eyes.  
  
"I don't know, but I bet she is thinking of you."  
  
Will glanced up to a small cardboard box on a shelf.  
  
"Have you looked at it recently?" asked his daemon, knowing the answer.  
  
Will took the box down and took the lid off the box containing the shards of the subtle knife. He dropped it. Kirjava leaped down from the desk to look inside.  
  
"It can't be," Will gasped. He reached down and took the knife out of the box. It was whole as if it had never been broken. Not like the time after Iorek had repaired it. The handle was still blackened, but the blade! It was as if had never been broken. There were no visible joins. The colours swirled as they had when Will had first looked at the blade. But it was different. The central part appeared to be grained with small serpents, twisting around.  
  
He started to reach out with the blade, to see if he could find still find the snag in order to cut a window into another world.  
  
"What are you doing!" hissed Kirjava.  
  
Will stopped.  
  
" I was just seeing . I just wanted to know if it still worked. If I could still find the edges."  
  
"Sorry. I know you wouldn't cut through really. I was just so shocked. How did you do it?" Kirjava was looking at the blade poised in Will's hand.  
  
Will tried the edge on his desk and had sliced all the way though the wood before he could stop himself.  
  
"How did I do what?" he replied stupidly.  
  
"How did you repair the knife? And how did you keep it from me? Why did you repair it? Oh Will, you know we can't use it. This only makes things worse. It will always be there as a temptation." Kirjava jumped back onto the desk again and stared at him reproachfully.  
  
Will looked stunned.  
  
"I didn't. I didn't do a thing. When I looked at it yesterday it was still in pieces."  
  
They looked at each other. Will shivered.  
  
"The day before I will be as close to Lyra as I ever can be and the knife is whole again."  
  
It was there. The temptation. The thought crept into Will's mind.  
  
"I could cut a small window. Just big enough to look through and see her. We could talk through it. It wouldn't need to be very big. We could touch ."  
  
He knew he could not. Small gap or large Xaphania had told them it would create another spectre. But another thought followed the first one.  
  
"Xaphania said 'we shall take care of the spectres', she let you cut three windows after you knew about it creating the spectres. They must have been able to deal with them so why not one more window?"  
  
It was very quiet. There was no traffic passing by in the street outside. There was nothing to make a noise. But it seemed to Will that he could not hear because of the pounding in his head.  
  
"How could we have been so stupid? Oh Lyra, I think we have been . I could have opened up a window whenever we needed to move from one world to another. It needn't have been often. Weren't we worth that much?"  
  
"Will, we agreed to live apart, to have our full lives to build the republic of heaven." Kirjava pleaded. " It may not be as simple as you think. We don't know what she meant by 'dealing with the spectres'"  
  
Will tried to calm down, he felt betrayed, but he knew Kirjava was right. He had to think about this properly and not just react. He started breathing deeply, trying to relax. Mary had talked to him about her out-of- body experience when she was high up on the platform in the tree and they had practiced meditating together.  
  
Will lay down on his bed and tried now. Kirjava curled up next to him purring and trying to help him. Gently he fell asleep.  
  
It seemed like only minutes later that Will opened his eyes to see sunshine flooding through the window. His eyes flew to his clock but it was all right, he had plenty of time. He was still wearing yesterday's clothes and was determined to be looking his best even if Lyra wasn't going to actually see him. The doubts of last night raised their heads again. He pushed them to one side, showered, got dressed and had his breakfast. He checked he had everything he needed and went to the door. He hesitated and went up to his room and picked up the knife. He put it in its sheaf and slipped it into his inside jacket pocket. It felt strange there but he couldn't attach it to his belt and wear it openly.  
  
He smiled to himself and pulled a small blue rucksack out of a cupboard. Mary had got it for him for when they had all gone out walking together. He put the knife in it and slipped it onto his back.  
  
"Why are you bringing it?" asked Kirjava suspiciously. "We agreed to think about this."  
  
"I need to know it's safe," replied Will keeping his tone as even as possible.  
  
At eleven O'clock he walked into the botanical gardens and headed for their place. He wanted to be in plenty of time to make sure he could get his place on the bench. He dreaded getting there to find someone else already sat there.  
  
He crossed the bridge near the end of the garden and looked at the bench. Someone was sitting on it.  
  
"Don't worry," Kirjava soothed him. There is more than enough time. She probably won't stay there for long. Will knew she was right but he wanted everything to be perfect.  
  
The girl on the bench was getting up, however, and Will breathed a sigh of relief. The girl was running now and Will noticed something bounding along at her feet. It was only as she threw herself into his arms that he realized the animal was a pine-marten.  
  
"Will!" the girl breathed in his ear as she hugged him to her. 


	3. together

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
The Master of Jordan had been as good as his word and included Lyra on the team investigating the object. He got permission from the boarding school for Lyra to pursue the work as a special project. This was only partly because he felt sorry for her and wanted to find something to distract her from Midsummer's day. The fact that she had seen such a craft flying was interesting but any of the scholars would soon have worked that out. The real reason for her inclusion was that the Master knew Lyra was curious and persistent, and that she would not give up until she had discovered everything there was to find out about the unusual machine.  
  
The scholars and Lyra soon worked out most of the controls. One of the scholars showed Lyra the basic functions of the machine as a gyrocopter and she grasped the concepts quickly. The helmet and the cable with the leather grip were a mystery, however. It was plain that the operator had to wear the helmet and that the cable had to be held by the leather grip but despite all their suggestions and theories they could not get the craft to work. Some of the scholars suspected that a particular fuel source must have been required and had expired rendering the machine useless. After three days most of the team had given up and returned to their own work.  
  
Lyra, of course, was not in that party. She could barely be prised away from the machine for meals or sleep. Indeed on the second night the Master had found her asleep in the cockpit and threatened to send her back to her schoolwork unless she looked after herself properly.  
  
Her breakthrough came on the third night. She was alone sitting in the cockpit. The sky was darkening and it was time to stop work. Pantalaimon climbed up to the cockpit window.  
  
"It's getting cold. Come on now. You know what will happen if the Master catches you again and he's bound to come checking any time now."  
  
"Alright Pan." Lyra was prepared to stop for now as she had run out of ideas. She twisted round to undo the harness and dropped the cable. "Oh Pan. Pick that up for me please. It's so tricky to reach down there."  
  
Impatiently, Pan dropped to the floor and seized the cable in his jaws.  
  
"OH!" The craft vibrated and tensed on its six legs. Pan dropped the cable in fright and the machine returned to normal. Lyra pulled the helmet off.  
  
"Pan, you did it! You worked it out. You little genius." Pan forgot his fright and basked in Lyra's praise.  
  
"Shall we try it again?" he suggested.  
  
"But what about the Master?" teased Lyra.  
  
"He won't be here for ages and anyway if he does appear you can show him my marvellous discovery."  
  
With a little trial and error they soon discovered how to make the craft move according to Lyra's intentions. However, once darkness closed in they stopped as it was clearly too dangerous to try to fly in the dark with all the Jordan buildings around them.  
  
Very early the next day they began again. Lyra was reluctant to show anyone what they had found until she had learned a lot more. She suspected that once she shared such a huge discovery she would be pushed out very quickly.  
  
They hovered over the buildings and then slowly circled round.  
  
"Come on Pan," she breathed "let's have some fun."  
  
Lyra's idea of fun was to see how fast and high they could go.  
  
"Lyra, stop!" Pan pleaded. "Someone will see us."  
  
"You're quite right Pan," Lyra replied. "We should go somewhere quiet where we can practice without being disturbed."  
  
That was not what Pan had intended but he was not in control and did not dare drop the cable in case they plummeted to the ground.  
  
Lyra stopped six or seven miles outside Oxford and experimented with the machine. It was quite a shock to find out that there were weapons installed. Buttons that the scholars had innocently pressed to no effect on the ground gave very different results when the machine was in the air and Lyra has destroyed a few trees and created several large holes in the ground before she realized what was happening.  
  
Hovering gently in the air Lyra found herself happier that she had been for a long time. Inevitably she thought of Will and how close she would be to him the next day. The craft suddenly lurched.  
  
"What did you do?" squealed Pan.  
  
"I didn't do anything. I was just thinking of Will and the sky seemed to flicker and the machine jumped." A strange hope gripped Lyra. "Pan, this machine moves wherever I intend it to go. It doesn't just fly like a gyrocopter it jumps to where you want. What would happen if I intend to use it to travel to Will's world?"  
  
Pan was silent for a long time.  
  
"Do you think we should?"  
  
"What do you mean Pan?"  
  
"What if we get stuck there and can't get back. We could be dead in just a few years."  
  
Lyra thought about that for a moment.  
  
"If we can get through one way I don't see why we shouldn't get back again and anyway if we can't get back I don't care. I'm going to try" and before Pan could say anything more he could feel Lyra gathering her will and then they were hovering again but in a different world. There were still fields around them but the crops growing in them looked different. There was a bright yellow crop, which Lyra didn't recognize and the fields seemed much larger. She did recognize the little carts moving quickly along the roads and she suddenly realized that they could see her as well. She knew that they had some amazing inventions in this world but she doubted that they had anything like her craft and that it would therefore be a good idea to hide it as quickly as possible.  
  
She found a small wood a long way from any of the roads and hid the craft in the middle of it. The trees were thick and leafy and when she looked in from outside the wood the craft was impossible to see. If someone walked into the wood that would be a different matter but she would have to trust to luck.  
  
Lyra spent the rest of the day dreaming about what she was going to do in the morning.  
  
Very early the next day she walked into Oxford. She didn't know about hitchhiking but was offered a lift by a lorry driver worried about a girl walking along such a busy road by herself. Pan hid in the back of the lorry.  
  
Lyra made her way to the botanical gardens, found the bench and wondered what she was going to say to Will. She had just decided on something particularly clever when she saw him walking towards her. All clear thought evaporated from her and she ran into his arms.  
  
Will didn't know how long they stood like that, clinging to each other as if the world was about to fall apart around them.  
  
"Will." She said again and held him even tighter.  
  
"Lyra." He didn't need to say anything else and for a long time they simply stayed as they were trying to make up for all the time when they should have been holding each other.  
  
"Young love!" It was an elderly couple walking past smiling, perhaps remembering how they had felt when they were young.  
  
Will and Lyra drew apart but remained holding hands, a little embarrassed but not about to part. The other couple walked on.  
  
"Come and sit down," said Lyra shyly, pulling him towards their bench. Will followed and they sat down next to each other. Will had expected to be gazing at a product of his imagination and although he tried hard not to say it he could not help himself.  
  
"You don't have to go back do you? Not yet? Not after just an hour or something like that."  
  
Lyra smiled teasingly.  
  
"So it's alright if I stay then?" But almost straightaway her look changed. "Will, I didn't mean to come here. Well I did, but I didn't want to let you down, it wasn't like I was giving up. I've tried to be cheerful and carry on, but it's been so hard and I didn't know what to do. I'm not explaining this very well, but you see we found this flying machine, like the one we saw during the battle, and."  
  
"Lyra." Will interrupted her flow of words. Her worried face looked at him. "It's alright. I understand. We're together again for now and that's all I care about. If Xaphania appears to tell us to separate again I'll tell her... Well, I'll tell her we aren't going to."  
  
"Oh Will! I'm sorry. I've been sat on the bench for nearly an hour planning the things I was going to say to you, or wondering whether to say nothing at all and just let you sit next to me, and in the end all I could do was just run up to you and say 'Will'!" But she was laughing now and he gently kissed her, thinking of their last hurried kiss before he had closed that last window.  
  
"No, I don't think I have to return soon, but I suppose I ought to. I was hoping you could come with me and we could try to sort some things out. But first how is your Mum?"  
  
"She is getting better slowly. She is very quiet most of the time but she seems more in control. She has seen a couple of different Doctors and they seem to think she will gradually recover by herself. They say she just needs peace and quiet."  
  
Lyra watched him as he talked about his Mother, sensing that he was still a little worried. Then she explained to Will about the Intention Craft although they still did not know that was its name.  
  
"I haven't exactly stolen it because I mean to take it back. Will, we need to discuss lots of things." She hesitated. " You said a moment ago that you would tell Xaphania that we wouldn't be separated again."  
  
Will nodded.  
  
"Well that's how I feel as well. I think they could have tried to harder to let us stay together. I know that sounds selfish, but."  
  
"Don't worry," Will interrupted her again. "I think we were used and then when we had done everything they needed us to do we were deliberately separated. You're right, we need to talk about a lot of things, I think we need to include Mary as well."  
  
"How is she?" Lyra smiled at the thought that she would able to see Mary again.  
  
Will grimaced.  
  
"I haven't been a very good friend to her. She took the brunt of it when I was upset over being split up from you." Will explained about the previous midsummer's day and Lyra hugged him close to her.  
  
"She will be back tomorrow so until then let's just enjoy being back together. We can worry about the future tomorrow."  
  
Lyra grinned. Her whole face lit up as she gazed at Will.  
  
"That sounds very philosophical, 'we can worry about the future tomorrow.'"  
  
"Are you hungry?" he asked.  
  
"Yes. I haven't even had breakfast yet."  
  
"Come on then, there's a café over there somewhere. But I don't think we will be allowed to take the daemons inside."  
  
They walked off happily hand in hand, without a care in the world for the time being at least.  
  
"Are you sure we are doing the right thing?" asked a voice from one of the two invisible presences in the park.  
  
"No of course I'm not sure," the other replied. "But this has to stop. We all agreed on that."  
  
The first presence considered this and then said, "do you think he will tell her about the knife?"  
  
"Yes," replied the first. "They trust each other and they will have no secrets from each other, even though they will sometimes pretend that they do. That is one of the reasons that their love will last."  
  
"And will they use the knife?" the first persisted.  
  
"I think that they will. But I don't know what they will use it for." 


	4. trap

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
Serafina Pekkala was flying for her life. She had been asked to arbitrate in a dispute between two clans, an occurrence that seemed far too often these days. As soon as she had arrived at the designated meeting place, however, she realized that it was a trap. She had made an excuse and flown off but was immediately followed. Her daemon, Kaisa, was trying to help her by flying ahead to lead her out of trouble but every time she thought she was about to escape she found her way blocked again. She was starting to believe that she was being played with by her pursuers. She could still see some of them behind her and some to her left. She was quite sure that more were just out of sight to her right.  
  
Her anger flared as she thought of the deception and that she had fallen for it. Her own clan was far away and even if she had been able to concentrate sufficiently to use a spell to alert them it would take too long for them to arrive. Her opponents may want to enjoy the thrill of the chase but they were not foolish enough to let their quarry escape. Her anger faded to be replaced by a small knot of fear in her stomach. What did they want with her? She couldn't think of any reason for either of the two clans in question to be at feud with her.  
  
The pursuit from the left was closing in. Serafina flew on. She could try diving closer to the ground and hope to lose them in the forests but she was concerned about what fresh surprises awaited her near the ground. Climbing higher was no answer; she would just make herself easier to see.  
  
Feeling that she was being driven towards her doom, Serafina flew on.  
  
As despair was starting to touch Serafina Pekkala, Lyra and Will were enjoying one of their happiest afternoons. They simply wandered around Oxford delighting in each other's company. They passed the cinema they had visited on Lyra's first visit to Will's world but decided to leave a visit for another day. They didn't want any distractions from each other.  
  
They spent some time buying some clothes for Lyra but she still refused to wear trousers. She was amazed to see so many other girls wearing them and so many girls with their hair cut short. At first she thought it had been done to them as some form of punishment and found Will's descriptions of some of the fashions of his world to be very strange.  
  
At last they set off for Will's house. Lyra loved the ride on the double decker bus. She sat upstairs right at the front, clinging to the rail whenever they turned a tight corner, laughing with delight.  
  
Will let them in through the front door and nearly tripped over the daemons as they raced inside. All of a sudden he felt very conscious of how small the house was. He knew that Lyra was living at Jordan College and he wondered what she would think of his home. Had he been concentrating a little more or if the daemons had not been capering about trying to impress each other, one of them might have noticed the car parked at the end of the street. Lyra saw it but, of course, it was as strange to her as all the other cars.  
  
Lyra barely noticed the size of the house as she was too fascinated by the gadgets that Will took for granted. The television amazed her and would she normally have paid no attention to anything else except for the fact that Will was there with her.  
  
They talked of everything apart from what they were going to do. They concentrated on the past, both on their adventures together and what had happened to them afterwards. Will considered showing her the knife but decided to leave it until the next day.  
  
Will was woken up in the morning by Kirjava licking his face.  
  
"Lyra's cooking breakfast. You might want to come and help before she burns the house down."  
  
Will put on his dressing gown and found Lyra in the kitchen looking at a pan of badly burned sausages.  
  
"You still have servants to do all your cooking then?"  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"I was trying to be helpful. Kirjava said it would easy and told me which pan to use but they didn't seem to be cooking so we turned the heat up."  
  
Will looked at Kirjava who looked back at him a picture of innocence. He threw the carbonised sausages in the bin and started to heat up the grill.  
  
After breakfast they sat back down at the table. Will put his blue rucksack on the table and Lyra grinned at the memory. Then her hand flew to her mouth.  
  
"I didn't bring the alethiometer. I can't believe I haven't thought of it until now. I can't read it properly again yet but I can manage some simple questions."  
  
Will nodded, pulled the subtle knife out of the rucksack and drew it for Lyra to see. She sat in her chair open mouthed.  
  
"I broke it. When we parted I broke it straightaway. I can't think of how many times I wished since then that I hadn't but I did and it remained in pieces until I checked it two nights ago. It hasn't been repaired it's been reforged."  
  
Lyra took it off him and carefully turned it round in her hands looking at the new pattern on the blade.  
  
" The hard-edged blade with its woven patterns quivers and trembles; grasped with terrible sureness, it flashes into changing hues." She recited.  
  
"What?" asked Will. He had never thought of Lyra as being the sort of person who went round quoting poetry.  
  
"It's from Elene, an Anglo-Saxon poem. One of my teachers read it to us at school and it reminded me of this knife and those lines stuck in my memory." She smiled at Will. "Don't worry that's the only poetry that I know."  
  
She looked at the blade and back at Will.  
  
"It's starting again."  
  
Will nodded and waited for her to continue.  
  
"I'm still confused about a lot of the things that happened. I thought that the witches prophecy was about us releasing the ghosts from the land of the dead but Serafina Pekkala told me there was more than that."  
  
"Yes," replied Will. "I discussed it with Mary as well. She says that when we fell in love it changed something, something fundamental in the worlds and the dust started flowing back in the direction it was meant to." He sighed, "I didn't really listen properly. It didn't seem important. I was thinking of how to build the republic of heaven. I fixed my mind on that because of my Father."  
  
"It was my Father's idea too," said Lyra. She looked uncomfortable with something and then said what was on her mind. "Do you think Xaphania pushed us towards that idea because she knew we would want to carry out our Fathers dreams?"  
  
"Maybe," replied Will. "Perhaps we were both aiming too high. Perhaps we were just meant to do what we could, you know, in a small way." He hesitated and then said. "Do you remember what Xaphania said about 'dealing with spectres'?"  
  
"Yes, I have thought of that as well. She wasn't very clear. Will, I don't think we should use the knife. We have the machine I used to get here. I think we should discuss all this with Mary and then return to my world and find Serafina. I still trust both of them and the Master."  
  
Will nodded again. But his teenage eyes flashed fiercely.  
  
"I think we were both used last time. Things were set in motion and we were dragged along. I thought what we were did was right and I still do but, have you heard a saying about 'the ends justify the means'?"  
  
"Yes. A lot of people were killed for 'the ends' we reached last time. I hope we aren't going to see that again."  
  
Serafina Pekkala was near the end of her strength and at the edge of panic. A circle of flying witches surrounded her. She had tried to break out but they changed their circle to adapt. Arrows flew through the air but they were intended to scare her not to injure. The circle was drawn in slowly. Serafina tried to dive down under it but the witches knew that she would try that. She suddenly saw four witches rising up towards her from the ground.  
  
She dived faster to try and get through them before they could react. She was tired and frightened otherwise she would have realized that the four witches were holding a net. She dived straight into it and was caught. Kaisa wheeled round not knowing what to do.  
  
"Go! Kaisa. Get away!" Serafina cried. Kaisa turned and winged away.  
  
Serafina was brought to the ground and then tied and blindfolded.  
  
"Darkness is ready for you Serafina. We have prepared it for you," one of the witches gloated. She heard the chanting of a spell and then her consciousness fled. 


	5. parting

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
Mary and Will's Mother, Elaine returned shortly after midday.  
  
Will and Lyra had agreed that in order not to upset his Mother, Lyra would wait in the kitchen. Will would take his Mother into the lounge and then tell Mary to go into the kitchen. Once the emotion of that meeting was over they would introduce Elaine to Lyra.  
  
This proved to be a sensible idea as Mary was at first stunned to see Lyra and then burst into tears, rushing to hug her.  
  
Will sat down with his Mother. He noticed that she had improved again. She seemed totally aware of her surroundings and was able to hold a normal conversation with him.  
  
"You had a good time then Mum?" he asked.  
  
"It was lovely Will. So quiet. We met a few other people walking and just said 'hello' to them. Mary seemed a little worried though, is she alright?"  
  
Will looked at her curiously. It was rare that his Mother picked up on someone else's feelings. "A friend or hers and mine has come to visit Mum. I hope that's OK."  
  
"Of course dear. You must introduce us." She started to get up but Will gestured for to sit down.  
  
"You stay there Mum. You must be tired from the journey. I will bring her in here."  
  
Will went to the kitchen to find the initial shock was over and that Mary was now asking for explanations.  
  
"We have plenty to talk about but it will have to wait. I need to take Lyra to meet Mum." Will interrupted.  
  
Will returned to the lounge with them.  
  
"Mum, this is Lyra. Lyra, this is my Mother."  
  
All of a sudden Lyra felt very shy, but she mastered it and walked forward to shake Elaine's hand.  
  
"So Lyra, are you Will's girlfriend?"  
  
Lyra had not expected such a straight question and nor had Will.  
  
Lyra looked at Will and said, "Yes, I am." Will felt a thrill run through his body. He couldn't remember how often they had told each other "I love you" but to hear Lyra declare it so easily to someone else felt wonderful. As if they were declaring their love to the world.  
  
Will's Mother smiled. "Come and sit down and tell me all about yourself."  
  
Will thought Lyra might need some help with that, but Mary pulled him to one side.  
  
"Have you seen the car outside? How long has it been there?"  
  
"What car?" Now Will felt another feeling course through him. He had been careless and it might have put them at risk  
  
"There's a strange car at the end of the street with two people I don't recognize sitting in it." Mary looked worried. "They must have been watching us all this time, but now that Lyra has re-appeared they have stepped up their presence. How did she get here Will? I know how you must feel but I'm not sure this is for the best."  
  
"We need to decide what to do quickly, but I don't want Mum worried. Let's get her to go and have a lie down in her room so we can make some plans."  
  
But there was no time for that. Kirjava was sitting up at a window facing the front and she called to Will. "A man has got out of the car and is coming up to the door."  
  
"We will have to try and bluff him," said Mary.  
  
Will picked up the subtle knife, safe in it's sheathe, and pushed it into the back of his trousers. The doorbell rang.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll get it," he said confidently. He went into the hall and opened the door. He had never seen the man before, but the man obviously knew him.  
  
"You must be Will Parry. My name is Inspector Malloy. I'd like to come inside to ask some questions."  
  
"You can ask your questions here," replied Will. "My Mother is resting I don't want her to be disturbed."  
  
"I don't think that's such a good idea. Just be a good boy and let me in. It isn't your Mother I want to speak to anyway."  
  
"Really?" said Will. "Who is it you want to see?" "Come on now son, don't be difficult," the man smiled confidently.  
  
Will realized the man was simply trying to gather information. He wanted to get inside to check who was actually there and if he could get them to come quietly. Will wanted some information as well. How many men were there? Was it just the one car? Did they know about the Intention Craft? Did they know the knife had been broken or that it had been re-forged? However, he knew he was not going to find the answers to any of those questions even if the man did come in, so he decided that he would not satisfy the man's curiosity.  
  
"Get lost! You haven't even attempted to show me a warrant card. No. Don't bother." He added as the man reached for his wallet. "You're no more a policeman than I am."  
  
The man smiled and walked away with the air of someone who has just lost an insignificant skirmish but knows he is about to win the war.  
  
"We have to leave," he said to Mary. "Lyra has hidden a machine a few miles out of town in a wood. We need to check if it's still there and then we need to get you and Mum to somewhere safe."  
  
Mary stood looking at him as he walked back into the lounge.  
  
"He is taking charge," she thought. On the one hand that thought relieved her but it worried her at the same time. She heard him speaking to Lyra and his Mother.  
  
"We need to go for a short trip in Mary's car. I know you've just come back Mum but we need to go now."  
  
"But I was just getting to know Lyra," Elaine complained.  
  
"We can keep on talking as we go," said Lyra. Picking up on the urgency in Will's face. She hurriedly packed the new clothes she had bought in the blue rucksack and Will quietly slipped the knife in as well.  
  
"There won't be much space in the machine with the two of us, but I think we can fit this in as well," she whispered to him.  
  
Despite the situation Will was amused at the thought that Lyra was so reluctant to leave behind her shopping. Then it dawned on him that if he as going to leave with Lyra and there was only room for two of them in the machine then they were quickly going have to come up with a plan to keep his Mother and Mary safe.  
  
Lyra looked at him and seemed to read his mind.  
  
"Don't worry, we will think of something. For now we need to get away from those men."  
  
The journey proved to be easier and at the same time more difficult than Will had expected. They were able to drive away without interference, but Lyra had difficulty in giving them proper instructions on which way to go. She knew the rough direction out of Oxford that they needed and was able to describe the main road she had travelled on in such a way that Mary guessed which one it was. However, their stop-start way of travelling must have made the men think that they were trying to lose them. The tailing car moved much closer. Mary pulled out onto a long, straight stretch of road and started to accelerate. Their tail accelerated to match them.  
  
Mary's mind was racing. They had to get away from the following car but she couldn't see how to do it. The road was quiet but the other car was clearly much faster than her's. A memory of an accident she had once seen on a motorway occurred to her. She checked everyone was wearing his or her safety belts.  
  
"Brace yourselves everybody," she said, "I'm going to test my brakes."  
  
She steadied herself and gathered her resolution. Then she stamped hard on the brakes, held the steering tight to ensure she kept control of the wheels, crashed through the gears and started to accelerate away again.  
  
The driver behind had not been paying enough attention. Over-confident, and not caring that the people they were pursuing knew that they were being followed; he had got too close to the car. The sudden braking manoeuvre caught him completely by surprise. He braked hard as well, too hard. He felt the steering wheel wrench to the right as he lost control. The car veered across the road, over the grass verge and into a stone wall.  
  
"Do you think that they're alright?" Mary's voice quivered as she tried to whisper her question to Will.  
  
"I think so," replied Will, peering behind, but in truth he had no idea. He presumed that the car's airbags would have saved its occupants. He was a little stunned that Mary had done what she had. Mary forced herself to concentrate and carry on driving.  
  
They eventually came to the place where the craft was hidden. Mary drove the car up a small lane where it was out of sight of the main road. They had seen no further sign of pursuit but did not doubt that other people would soon be looking for them.  
  
They had had a brief discussion of Will and Lyra's concerns but not enough to satisfy any of them. Mary could only tell them what she had been told by Serafina Pekkala, how she had got to the world of the Mulefa and what she had seen through the amber spyglass. Both Will and Lyra silently noted that Angels had guided most of her actions. Mary could see that the parting had only made their love stronger and she could sense their determination to stay together or at least to get a better explanation of why they had to be apart. Into this discussion came the question of whether to use the subtle knife for Lyra had come up with a plan for the security of Mary and Elaine.  
  
"Will and I can return to my world, I think we should find Serafina Pekkala. We know she spoke to Xaphania and she may be able to help us. Will could cut just one window to let you and his Mum through to a world where you will be safe. What about the world of the Mulefa?"  
  
Will worried about the affect this could have on his Mother, but it seemed less harmful than leaving her in their own world at the moment. Mary was secretly delighted at the thought of seeing the Mulefa again but did not want them to use the knife.  
  
The decision was made for them when they saw a car driving along the main road and then turning into the lane where their car was parked. Will took out the knife and cut a window. He could see the familiar landscape of the Mulefa world through it.  
  
"I know this seems strange Mum," he said as reassuringly as he could. "But I think you will find it very peaceful in this place and Mary will look after you until I can return for you."  
  
Mary stepped through the window and beckoned Elaine through. Elaine followed as if in a dream. Will stepped through with her to say goodbye and Lyra climbed up to the craft to check all was well. The craft had not been touched.  
  
Will stepped back into his own world, closed the window carefully and climbed up into the craft. Lyra had been right, there was very little room. They ended up with Will sat on the seat and Lyra sat on his lap with the helmet on and Pantalaimon grasping the cable in his teeth.  
  
"OK," said Will "let's go." 


	6. master

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
Xaphania stood at a window gazing out onto the site of the battle. Despite the bodies having been removed some time ago it remained a place of desolation. A mist blew across it reminding her of the smoke from the fires that had burned there. Light from the setting sun reflected from the ground in large scarlet patches.  
  
Another angel entered the room and waited to be acknowledged. He was of a lesser grade than her and appeared rather nervous. She sensed this without even needing to look at him.  
  
"What is it?" she asked.  
  
"We may be wrong. It only seemed to be there for a moment so we could have made a mistake." The angel's nervousness seemed to be increasing.  
  
"What is it?" she repeated, but not harshly.  
  
"There may have been another window opened. We think that there was, but it was closed again so we can't be sure."  
  
She turned to face him. "Which worlds were involved?"  
  
"The world of Will Parry was where the window was opened but we couldn't tell into which world."  
  
"No." She said quietly. "Not him. He broke the knife. I checked and it was in pieces. Not even in his world could it be repaired." She looked out of the window again. "Was it a mistake to have separated them so soon?"  
  
"As I say we may be wrong," the angel started again but Xaphania interrupted him.  
  
"Have you checked the seals on the abyss and on the gap Asriel created?"  
  
"Yes I thought of that straightaway. Everything is in order. All the windows and other gaps are still secure as well. Nothing is moving between the worlds. You don't think that this could be the first signs that He is back?"  
  
Xaphania remained gazing out of the window. "It is not The Authority. He is gone. If Metatron is still alive, which I very much doubt, he is still in the abyss. However, I never thought that the war would be over so easily. Perhaps someone else is ready to reveal himself as their leader." She turned to the Angel again. "Go to Will Parry' world and see what you can find out. Be careful and be discreet. That world is relatively free of His influence and I don't want it being stirred up by the sudden appearance of Angels."  
  
The angel departed leaving her to stare out of the window for a few minutes more. But then she turned away from the view. She had plenty of work to do and for the first time in aeons she was starting to doubt herself.  
  
Serafina Pekkala drifted back to consciousness. She was still blindfolded and tied hand and foot. She tried to feel the nature of the room and felt that even if the blindfold were removed she would still be in darkness. The room itself seemed to be oppressing her, crushing her. The air itself felt wrong.  
  
When she had spent just a short time in Will Parry's world she had felt a little sickened by the pollution in the air. She was sensitive to all things in nature and had felt the air almost crying from being misused.  
  
Now trapped in this room she felt the same way. There were traces of toxic chemical gases drifting around. Not anywhere near enough to kill, but enough to disturb her.  
  
"Please, sisters, talk to me. Why are you doing this to me? I came to help you."  
  
Whispers started up around here. She could not make them out at first but then one became clearer, repeating over and over again.  
  
"We do not need your help. You betrayed us. We have new powers now. We do not need your help. You betrayed us. We have new powers now. We do not need your help. You betrayed us. We have new powers now."  
  
The whispering carried on until Serafina could bear it no longer and she started begging for it to stop. It continued for a short while and then gradually receded again into nothing.  
  
Serafina remained silent as well not daring to speak again in case she provoked the whispers to restart. But as the silence continued she felt herself start to shiver uncontrollably. She was used to being parted from Kaisa but at this moment she needed the companionship of her daemon more than she had ever needed it before.  
  
"Kaisa will find my clan," she told herself. "They will not abandon me. We have many allies." But at the moment she felt desperately alone. Suddenly she thought of Lyra.  
  
"Is this how Lyra feels? Is it like this for her all the time? No! She has friends, people to talk to." But she remembered the look on Lyra's face the last time she had seen her. Serafina had been called away almost as soon as she had arrived and she recalled the look of sadness on Lyra's face as they parted. "Lyra!" she cried out not realizing what she was doing.  
  
The whispers started again.  
  
"You betrayed her. You left her. You destroyed her." And although she knew it was not true, Serafina cried. Not just for herself but for Lyra as well.  
Will and Lyra had jumped back to her world without any problems although it was quite uncomfortable in the confined space of the cockpit. Kirjava found it hard to settle and Pan was fed up of holding the cable. They decided that it was probably better to return to Jordan in the early morning. That gave them the rest of Sunday afternoon to themselves. There was no one in sight so Lyra had tried to teach Will how to fly the craft. However, although this had come so easily to her, Will found it much more difficult.  
  
"It's harder for me to use the controls with my injured hand," he claimed. Kirjava pointed out that he was meant to be flying the machine by using his mind and Lyra cheekily commented that perhaps that was the problem.  
  
They returned to the ground and hid the craft in the wood, which was much bigger in this world.  
  
"It's like with the alethiometer, you are just a natural," he said and then wished he hadn't.  
  
"No, this is something I am naturally good at. The alethiometer was different. I think a lot of the time it was the angels using it to talk to me. Like sometimes it almost seemed to volunteer information that I hadn't asked for. Now when I try to read it, it's hard work."  
  
"I can't imagine how you can do it at all," Will said.  
  
"Well it's something else where you have to use your mind, so I can do it and you can't!" she laughed and then ran off shrieking as he chased her, their daemons bounding along beside them.  
  
The night had been warm and they spent it in the wood in the shelter of the craft. In the morning they set off and arrived back over the college just as dawn was breaking. They flew the craft back into the quadrangle and put it back under it's tent.  
  
"We should try to see the Master as soon as possible," said Lyra. "I don't think he will be angry about me taking the machine." She grinned at Will. "I used to get up to much worse things."  
  
She guided him over to the Master's rooms. She was not altogether surprised to see the Master emerge and beckon them in. He led them though into his drawing room and gestured for them to sit down on a long overstuffed sofa.  
  
"So, the wanderer returns again," he said dryly. "And I don't suppose I need to ask who you have brought to visit me?"  
  
"Master, this is Will Parry," said Lyra. "He is the ."  
  
"Yes. Yes. I have heard a lot about you Master Parry," said the Master, as Will got up to shake his hand. "Well first things first. Let me have your report on the strange machine."  
  
Lyra explained about her discovery, her trip to the other world and what had happened there. In response to the Masters questions Will explained what he had been doing since his return to his own world. Neither of them had intended telling him so much but he asked searching questions and was a good audience. Finally Lyra asked.  
  
"Why did you try to poison my Father?"  
  
Will gasped at the effrontery of the question. But the Master simply smiled.  
  
"I was trying to spare you the suffering and trouble you have had to go through. I suppose it is as well that I did not succeed, but I will not deny that I had no time for your Father. He was an ambitious and ruthless man. There are many men who are like that but not like him. I sometimes wonder whether the angels opposing the Authority were in control of him or if it was the other way round. They needed his leadership and drive and he needed the forces and supplies that they had gathered. So, what do you mean to do now?"  
  
Will and Lyra glanced at each other.  
  
"We want to try to find Serafina Pekkala. We think she may be able to tell us more about what happened just before Will and I were separated," Lyra replied.  
  
"We are also hoping she may have some suggestions about the knife," Will added. "Is there anything you can tell us, sir?"  
  
"I know nothing of the knife," said the Master. However, his curiosity got the better of him. "May I see it?"  
  
Will handed him the knife. "Be very careful with it, sir," he warned.  
  
The Master turned it over, studying the hilt and then the blade. "You say it looks slightly different that before it was broken?"  
  
"Yes. It looks as if there are small snakes in a sort of pattern," replied Will.  
  
"Hmm. Pattern is the word. I believe the blade has been pattern-welded."  
  
"What is pattern-welding?" asked Lyra half afraid that it was a stupid question, but Will was shaking his head as well.  
  
"It is the hammering together, and then twisting and re-hammering of layers of iron. It imparts flexibility and strength. Many weapon smiths used to use the skill as a way of creating unbreakable blades out of poor quality iron ore," the Master told them. "It isn't really my field of course but I'm quite sure that this has been pattern-welded."  
  
"Unbreakable," repeated Will looking at Lyra sharing a common idea. Whoever had reforged the knife did not mean for it to be broken again.  
  
"Well that was the main point of course. If a man's blade were to break in battle, he would be as good as dead. Ah! I see what you mean." The Master handed the blade back to Will.  
  
"Is it a common skill?" asked Will.  
  
"I don't suppose that there are many smiths who would bother with it these days. Unbreakable swords aren't exactly in demand now. I don't think it would be normal to do it for a knife. That would require a rare degree of skill."  
  
There was a soft knock at the door. Cousins, the Master's manservant entered.  
  
"There is a young lady to see you, sir," he said, looking rather shaken. He was obviously not used to young women expecting to be admitted to the Master of Jordan's house.  
  
However, all became clear when the person in question entered the room. She was a witch.  
  
"Master of Jordan, I am here in search of Lyra Silvertongue, who I believe is in your care." 


	7. witch

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
If the Master was taken aback by the arrival of the witch he didn't show it. It was now halfway through the morning and he sent Cousins to arrange for some coffee to be sent in. Cousins recovered his composure and left.  
  
The witch sat in a chair indicated by the Master but did not look comfortable. Although old for a human she was comparatively young for a witch. Lyra did not think she had seen her before. The witch was studying Lyra. She had obviously guessed who she was, although the Master had not yet introduced them. He did so now.  
  
"My name is Saeunn Leira," she replied. She had recognized Will's name and was evidently surprised to find him present. However, it did not distract her from the mission that had brought her to Lyra.  
  
"I have sought out Lyra Silvertongue, as she is known to us, to ask for her help." The witch did not seem to know whether to address Lyra directly or the group.  
  
"Serafina Pekkala, the queen of our clan, went to mediate in a dispute between two clans," the witch continued. "However, her daemon has returned to us, alone, to tell us that she has been captured by the other witches." She stopped as Lyra gasped out loud.  
  
"That in itself is unusual. Clans feud and fight but it is rare to take captives in this way. Sometimes witches have been held for ransom or to make them undo a spell, but it is rare. No one has contacted us to bargain for her release."  
  
"Are you sure that they captured her?" asked Will.  
  
"Kaisa saw her being trapped in a net." Saeunn replied.  
  
"No. I meant are you sure that they did not kill her after that."  
  
The witch hesitated.  
  
"We have to consider that she may be dead. We have attempted several spells to discover where she is but the results are very difficult to interpret. It is as if something is blocking them or shielding her from us. That is why I have been sent to find Lyra. We are hoping she will use the alethiometer device to try and locate Serafina."  
  
Lyra had been sat on the edge of her seat curious to know what she could do to help. Now she looked horrified.  
  
"I find it very hard to read now. The ability has left me and I am only re- learning it slowly." She looked as if she was about to burst into tears, but then mastered herself. "Of course I will try, I will go and get it immediately."  
  
"Wait just a moment Lyra," said the Master. "I suggest we ask Dame Hannah to come and assist and to bring some of her books."  
  
"Can we trust this Dame?" asked Saeunn suspiciously.  
  
"I believe so, said the Master coldly "or I would not have suggested it." There was an awkward silence.  
  
"Very well," said Saeunn, "but I would prefer that as few people as possible know about this."  
  
Lyra left to get the alethiometer, and the Master went to have a message sent to Dame Hannah requesting her presence as soon as possible, with as many books on the subject of the alethiometer as she could manage to bring.  
  
Will found himself alone in the room with Saeunn. He found himself looking at her appreciatively. She was, after all very beautiful. Her dark hair fell around her body in long waves, she shone with vitality and her eyes were fascinating. He gazed deeply into her vivid blue eyes. She was so beautiful; her blonde hair was . He shook his head, bewildered. No, her hair was dark. It was Lyra who was blonde.  
  
He looked at the witch again, at her red lips, half open. He came to himself and looked at her properly. She had been smiling, confident in her power over him, over all men. But now her eyes narrowed. Will thought of the witch who had offered her love to his Father. Was he about to offend Saeunn in a similar way?  
  
"I love Lyra," he said simply "there is no one for me except her. If you and I both know and accept that, then we can perhaps work together to help Serafina Pekkala."  
  
The witch stared at him and then nodded. Will started to breathe more easily.  
  
"Where was she when she was captured?" he asked trying to start a safe conversation until the others returned.  
  
"The meeting she was due to attend was off one of the remote Scottish islands. But the chase was complicated and Kaisa became confused. She is still in a frantic state. My daemon is trying to comfort her until we know where to start looking."  
  
She was looking intently at Will now.  
  
"You have much power in you." She said.  
  
Will did not know how to respond to that statement.  
  
"I hope that you will be coming with me." She continued.  
  
Will thought about saying that he had not agreed to any such thing, but realized it would be a stupid thing to say. He would go to help Serafina anyway. Lyra would insist on going and he would go with her. He owed Serafina his life. But he would go because he knew he had to or he would not be Will Parry.  
  
The Master returned first, having dispatched a messenger. Lyra returned with the alethiometer, unaware of what had passed between Saeunn and Will. In the meantime Cousins had brought in the coffee.  
  
Lyra had unwrapped the alethiometer and placed it on a table. She had brought several of the books she had on the subject and put them next to the instrument. She started to make notes about the question she would attempt to ask.  
  
Dame Hannah appeared, bringing several bags of books with her and Will started to wonder how long this was likely to take if so many books had to be consulted. He remembered ruefully how simple it used to be.  
  
The Master and Saeunn Leira explained the situation to Dame Hannah and she and Lyra discussed the way they should ask the question.  
  
"I suggest we ask several short, precise questions to try to make this easier." The Dame suggested.  
  
They began their work. Will had not realized how demanding it was to use the alethiometer in the normal way. He saw Lyra in deep concentration, her face screwed up as if she could obtain the answers she wanted by sheer force of will. She moved the hands over the instrument, read the response, scribbled some notes, referred to the books, scribbled some more notes and continued. Dame Hannah did not seem to be of much use other than to find the most relevant books. Lyra might have lost the gift of being able to read the answers instantly but she was still far more attuned to the device than anyone else in her world.  
  
Will started to become concerned. After half an hours work Lyra looked exhausted. A faint sheen of perspiration covered her face. She was constantly pushing her hair back behind her ears and then running her hands through it disturbing it again.  
  
"Lyra, it's time to take a break." He heard himself saying. Saeunn shot him a look but he ignored her.  
  
"No. I'm nearly there. I think I have it. Please be quiet Will. Just for a few moments more." She looked at him and smiled. "I'm alright, honest."  
  
But it was another half hour before she brought her notes together and left the table.  
  
"I think I know where she is. It's near a small Scottish village called Cragsden. It's very remote. I think she must be underground. It kept saying that she was in the darkness but I'm sure it didn't mean she was dead. Perhaps she is under some sort of spell. Anyway if we set off now we could be there before nightfall and see what we can do."  
  
"And how do you intend to get there?" asked the Master.  
  
Lyra just stared at him.  
  
"Master, please. I thought you would let us use the craft again. It will take ages to get there any other way." She looked at him desperately, and then turned to Will for support.  
  
"We need to speak to Serafina Pekkala," said Will quickly. "I know that this is witch business, but we are involved already."  
  
"I was sent here to ask for help in locating our queen not to beg for assistance in rescuing her," said Saeunn haughtily. "We will look after our own clan business."  
  
She rose and left the room without another word.  
  
"Now," said the Master holding up his hands to stop the protests he knew were about to be launched at him. "I will let you use the craft. But I want to impress on you the importance of not getting involved in a conflict between witches or of involving this College. Also if you want to borrow the craft again you will do it sensibly. That means you will rest before setting off," he looked specifically at Lyra.  
  
Will looked at Lyra. She was clearly exhausted and it would indeed be foolish to attempt to fly with her in this condition. She started to protest, but Will pointed out to her the wisdom in the Master's argument. Reluctantly she relented and went to her room.  
  
The Master waited until she had left.  
  
"A war between witches is no place for either of you to be," he told Will. "and I don't trust Saeunn Leira." He smiled. "I know I can't stop either of you from going, but I think you should do so by yourselves rather than as part of a witches assault force."  
  
He sent Will to explore this world's Oxford with an eye to looking for anything useful to take with them. However, Will had the feeling that the Master simply wanted him out from under his feet for a while.  
  
The Master really wanted an opportunity to discuss things with his friend the librarian but as he was currently away in London the Master sat talking with Dame Hannah, which wasn't quite the same, but did give him an interesting insight.  
  
"Well, I have clearly been wasting my time," she said as soon as Will had gone.  
  
"I thought Lyra did very well. I can't think of anyone better with the alethiometer, even if she has had to start again from scratch. It was a good idea to use several smaller questions."  
  
"No. I don't mean her studies with the alethiometer; she is progressing very well with that. In some ways it was quite an easy problem. It was mainly a question of finding symbols to represent the names involved. I meant the boy. Not that he is a boy, not quite a man yet, but certainly not a boy."  
  
The Master looked confused.  
  
"I have been waiting for Lyra to start to get over him," she explained. "She was obviously desperately in love with him when she returned, but I have seen that sort of thing in girls before. It passes with time; they meet other boys and get on with their lives. They always remember their first love of course, but they move on. I thought Lyra was taking a bit longer to get over it than usual but now I see that she wasn't going to."  
  
The Master still looked baffled.  
  
"I only have to see the way they look at each other," she said in exasperation "That isn't a love that either of them are going to let go easily. I don't think that they will be able to let go of it at all. The angel, Xaphania, I don't suppose she recognized it either. She just patted them on the head, said 'thank you for saving the universe, now go back to your worlds and be happy' and thought that they would be content. Well they aren't going to be content. They have reached an age when they won't accept things just because they are told that they have to be that way. I think they will move heaven and earth to carry on being together."  
  
"Hmm, well they may have to do just that," said the Master. "But given their past achievements I wouldn't be surprised. When those two work together you have to wonder if there they have any limits." 


	8. prisoner

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
Serafina awoke. She was quite disorientated. She had no idea of how long she had been lying there. She remained silent, not wanting to start the whispers again.  
  
Suddenly she felt that there was someone else in the room with her.  
  
"Who is there?" she dared to ask.  
  
"So you still retain some of your abilities," said a woman. "Interesting. I had thought that being left here for so long would have drained you almost completely. Still, no matter. How are you feeling, sister? Does the air in here bother you? We have become used to it now."  
  
"Where are we?" Serafina asked.  
  
The other woman laughed.  
  
"No. I don't think I will tell you that. Darkness surrounds you. Not just the lack of light but the absence of dust as well. We are in an old research centre of the Church. They abandoned it after the confusion of The Battle of course and we have found it useful. As an interesting side affect it also deprives you of any contact with the natural world and I suspect that is what is causing you the most pain."  
  
"Why are you doing this to me?" Serafina's mind was scrambling to make some sense of her situation and to find out as much as she could.  
  
"No Serafina. That is not how this is supposed to be," the woman laughed again. "I am going to ask the questions. If you are sensible and make the right decisions I may answer some of your queries later, but I don't think that is very likely."  
  
"May I have some water?" asked Serafina.  
  
"No of course not. Now, I mentioned The Battle just then. Do you remember the battle? Were you even there?"  
  
"Which battle?" asked Serafina.  
  
"Do not make me angry Serafina Pekkala. The Battle. The battle where so many of our sisters died. The battle Ruta Skadi, in her arrogance, commanded us to join. The battle where we were used as cannon fodder." The woman's voice was rising in pitch until she was nearly screaming. She stopped and returned to her normal voice.  
  
"We think you were involved in the decision to spill so much of our precious blood. Are we right sister?"  
  
"Not directly," replied Serafina. "I and my clan were assisting Lyra, the girl of the prophecy."  
  
"The prophecy!" spat the other witch. "It was no prophecy. It was our eavesdropping on the conversations of the rebel angels and their plans and we managed to convince ourselves that we were the bearers of a fantastic secret. Can you imagine the rewards we could have reaped if we had gone to The Authority and told him about this secret?"  
  
"No!" cried Serafina. "We did what had to be done. You know what The Authority and his regent did to witches. The clans agreed to go to war."  
  
"Perhaps, but we were not given the whole story," countered the witch. "We had no idea of the weapons we would face. Still, that brings me to the main point of all this. Those weapons."  
  
The witch paused.  
  
"When Ruta Skadi told us of the army Lord Asriel had assembled she also described the weaponry he had. In the battle we saw it being used and the weapons that were being used against us. We were using torches and arrows against machines the like of which we had never seen. When the fighting ceased and we could pause to think there were some of us who decided that we would not be put in such a position again. We took some of the weapons left abandoned and smuggled them back over Lord Asriel's bridge before the angels could close it."  
  
Serafina trembled. This was totally alien to everything she had believed in. Witches simply should not do what these witches had done.  
  
"It soon became clear that the power of the Church is broken, at least for the time being. We needed somewhere to hide our new power. We found this place and found some new toys to play with, that the Church had left behind." The witch laughed. "The church can be very," she paused searching for a word, "inventive."  
  
Serafina said nothing, dreading what was to come.  
  
"Now we know that not all witches will agree with what we have done, so we have come up with this idea of inviting traitors such as yourself to inspect our facilities. You will then be free to decide whether you want to join us or not."  
  
"My clan knew who I was coming to meet with. They will not rest until you have been dealt with," Serafina decided her position couldn't get any worse so she decided to attempt threats.  
  
"Your clan is weak," retaliated the witch. "They cannot find you here, but assuming you do not decide to join with us we will let them know where we are. Then when they come, we will annihilate them with our new arsenal, demonstrating to the other clans where their best interests lie. I will leave you to think it over for a short time, then I will attempt to persuade you with some of the equipment the Church left for us and then, when you still refuse we will kill you."  
Lyra went down the stairs from her room. Pan scampered next to her.  
  
"This isn't a good idea," he said. "He will feel embarrassed because he doesn't have anything to give you."  
  
"It doesn't matter," she replied. "It's nothing much anyway."  
  
"You haven't taken enough time to rest either. The Master will probably just send you back," Pan, scolded her.  
  
"I'm fine," she replied. "Stop fussing. You want to help Serafina don't you? Well be quiet then."  
  
"We won't be much help if we crash the craft because you have fallen asleep," he grumbled, but she ignored him.  
  
Will returned to the college after a few hours looking around Lyra's Oxford to find Lyra waiting for him in the quadrangle, by the Intention Craft.  
  
"Feeling better?" he asked.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"I'm fine. Pantalaimon keeps fussing. He thinks it would be better if you and Kirjava flew the craft."  
  
Pan nearly choked with indignation.  
  
"I've spoken to the Master and he has found some maps that should help us. I'm bringing the alethiometer so that when we get near to the village we can try to pinpoint exactly where she is."  
  
She hesitated and then went on.  
  
"I know I should have asked before doing this, but I asked the alethiometer about your Mum, just to make sure she's ok. I thought you would want to know and I was doing really well with the alethiometer. Your Mum's fine. She's still with Mary and they're both safe, but that's all I know. I'm sorry Will. I know I should have asked you first, I wasn't being nosey."  
  
"Lyra," Will interrupted. "It's OK. I trust you. I don't have any secrets from you. Thanks for finding out how they are. You knew I was worrying didn't you?"  
  
Lyra got up and held out a small package to Will.  
  
"Pan thinks that this is silly, but I don't care. When I told the girls at school about you and me and how we had to separate they didn't understand about the different worlds so they gave me this to send to you."  
  
Will took the package and found it contained a small box. Inside was a signet ring. He smiled and put it on the ring finger of his right hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of his own which he handed to Lyra. She opened it and took out a ring with a small sapphire.  
  
"I'm sorry it isn't nicer." Apologized Will. "I didn't have any of your money so I had to bargain with a jeweller and get him to swap my watch for a ring. He hadn't seen a digital watch before but he still drove a hard bargain."  
  
Lyra stopped him with a kiss and slipped the ring onto her own right hand ring finger. They looked at each other in silent agreement that this was the right thing to do.  
  
"We should set off as soon as possible," said Lyra.  
  
"But what about the Master?" said Will. "We should see him first, before we go."  
  
"Let's go now Will," she said, "I really want to get started. I'm not sure how long it will take us in the craft. I have never travelled that far in distance before, only between worlds."  
  
"Only between worlds!" Will echoed. Lyra grinned at him. Will looked at her and decided against asking her any more questions.  
  
Night had come and almost gone before they arrived. They had managed by taking turns at flying and by stopping several times to rest. Finding the village in the dark had been difficult but they managed. There was an old mansion just to the north of the village and they suspected that Serafina was probably being held there.  
  
There was no sign of life either in the village or at the house but they decided to be careful and as soon as they had taken a quick look they flew off to find a hiding place for the craft. It was at this point that Lyra raised a point that had been troubling her as they were travelling.  
  
"If we do get Serafina out how are we going to get away? We can't all fit in the machine."  
  
"When we get out she may be able to fly herself," he said. "If the other witches are here, and I'm sure they are even if we haven't seen them yet, we should be able to find a cloud pine branch."  
  
Lyra smiled to herself when he said "when". He was clearly in no doubt that they would succeed and that boosted her confidence.  
  
"If she can't fly for any reason," Will continued, "we will have to make sure we get her out without anyone noticing. Then you can get her away a short distance and come back for me."  
  
Lyra started to protest, but he held up his hands to stop her.  
  
"If necessary I will use the knife to escape. You can't use the knife so it makes sense for you to get Serafina away. If we do get completely separated we will meet back at Jordan College."  
  
"Yes. You're right. Your plans are always the best ones," she agreed. "So how are we going to find her?"  
  
"The most likely place for her to be is somewhere in that manor house. We need to get in there first," he said.  
  
"Pan and I can help," said Kirjava. "If you cut a neat hole in the glass of one of the windows we can slip in and look round for you. Let's go now before it gets much lighter."  
  
They crept towards the manor house. The village was completely deserted and Will worried about what had happened to the inhabitants.  
  
"When do you think the rest of Serafina's clan will arrive?" asked Lyra.  
  
"I hope we can get Serafina out before that," said Will. "The Master was right, I don't trust that witch Saeunn Leira. One moment she wanted us to go with her and the next she had walked away. I . I didn't like her," he finished lamely.  
  
Lyra looked at him.  
  
No secrets, thought Will.  
  
"When I was alone in the room with her, I think she was trying to put a spell on me to make me fall in love with her."  
  
Lyra smiled at him but Will was left with a feeling that Saeunn Leira would be well advised to keep out of Lyra's way. Lyra hid her sense of triumph that Will had remained loyal to her.  
  
They reached the gardens of the house without seeing anyone, hoping that no one had seen them. They found a small gate in the large brick wall that surrounded the house and gardens. Pan slipped underneath it to make sure the coast was clear and then they all went in. Carefully they went up to the side of the house and found a sash window looking into a sitting room.  
  
Will used the subtle knife to cut a hole just big enough for the daemons to get in. The edges were so neat that it was hard to tell that there was a hole at all. He cut it next to the catch and when the daemons returned to say there was no one around he opened the window and he and Lyra climbed inside. 


	9. rescue

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
The daemons had checked to make sure there was no one in the room or in the corridor outside. The room was clean and tidy and the house did not look as if it had been abandoned.  
  
Will tried not to look nervous.  
  
"You said that you don't have burglar alarms or anything like that in this world, didn't you?"  
  
"No. I'd never heard of anything like that until you described them, but witches may have set spells as traps I suppose. We'll just have to be as careful as we can."  
  
Pan and Kirjava checked the corridor again and set off to explore.  
  
"I've been thinking about something you asked Saeunn Leira in Oxford," said Lyra. "You asked if they were sure Serafina was still alive and she said she thought so, but they weren't sure. But if Kaisa was there that proved that Serafina was alive."  
  
Will frowned.  
  
"Yes of course. I was really stupid not to think of that myself. Sorry."  
  
The daemons had split up to be able to cover more ground. Kirjava looked round the ground floor whilst Pan slipped upstairs. Pan encountered some witches first, but they were all asleep. All the bedrooms appeared to be occupied with some witches in the beds and others on the floor, some were even curled up in the corridors.  
  
Kirjava only found witches in the kitchens where two of them were up early and looking for breakfast. However, she also found the door leading down to the cellars.  
  
The daemons returned to Will and Lyra. They had seen no sign of Serafina Pekkala and none of them were in any doubt that she must be in the cellars.  
  
Kirjava volunteered to go down but Will and Lyra wanted to go as well this time.  
  
"If most of the witches are asleep at the moment, we may get a chance to get Serafina out now," said Will.  
  
The daemons went first, checking round corners and making sure the way was clear. They went past the kitchens and heard the witches arguing with each other.  
  
"I know I haven't met many witches," whispered Will. "But I didn't expect them to be like this."  
  
"They are very different from Serafina's clan," agreed Lyra.  
  
They came to the door at the top of the cellar stairs. It was slightly ajar. Will put his ear to the gap and listened for a few seconds.  
  
"There's a noise a bit like a generator."  
  
Gently he opened the door a little wider. Pan slid through and reported back that the stairs led down a short way to another door. They all went down the stairs together. Will had strapped the sheathe of the subtle knife to his belt. He checked that he could draw the knife quickly if he needed to.  
  
The door at the bottom of the stairs was closed. Will looked at Lyra and she nodded. He slowly turned the knob and carefully opened the door. The room it opened into was brightly lit but there was no one in there.  
  
In fact it was a very large room, but with some areas partitioned off to create separate areas. It was full of machinery, but nearly all of it was idle. The noise Will had heard came from one of the machines. It reminded both of them of a medieval torture chamber brought up to date. There was another door at the other end of the room. They quickly looked round and decided to move on. The door led down a further flight of steps.  
  
If anything the next room was even larger. It looked more like a warehouse and was indeed being used for storing things. Large quantities of weaponry of all sorts were there. They ranged from ordinary rifles to field guns. There was even a large tank under a camouflage net and many other devices which neither Lyra nor Will had ever seen before.  
  
Will puzzled at how the larger pieces had been brought down here, but on the right hand wall was a large, metal gate and he hoped they had found a second exit which did not lead back through the house. He went up to it. It was made of a solid piece of metal. There was no sign of how it opened, no lock or handles or controls.  
  
He turned round to see Lyra beckoning to him from the other side of the room. She had found another door. It was also made of metal but was of a normal size. It was locked but on this door it was easy to see where the lock was. Will used the subtle knife to cut the lock out of the door and they went though to be faced by a dark tunnel.  
  
A quick search of the warehouse like room yielded a couple of devices rather like torches. They set off down the tunnel. It led gently downwards until they found themselves in a final room. This appeared to have been roughly cut out of the rock and moisture ran down the walls, which only made the metal cube in the middle of the cave look even stranger. It was black with dimensions of about three metres. On the side facing them was a control panel and a viewing screen. On the screen they could see a witch lying bound and blindfolded on the floor. Her face was turned away from them but they were in no doubts as to who it was.  
  
They looked around the outside of the cube and found a door on the left hand side. To their surprise it was unlocked. Will opened the door and looked in. The witch had not moved but he could see clearly that it was indeed Serafina Pekkala. He was about to go in when Lyra stopped him.  
  
"Seeing you at the moment might not be the best thing for her," she said. "Go and keep watch. It would be easy for us to get trapped in here."  
  
Will went back to the tunnel to listen for anyone coming. Lyra went in the cube to Serafina. She went up to her friend and knelt beside her.  
  
"Serafina Pekkala," she whispered. "It's me Lyra. We've come to get you out. Can you hear me? I'm going to take off the blindfold so close your eyes."  
  
"Lyra?" Serafina croaked. Her throat was dry. "Get away from here. Please get out now."  
  
"We're all going," said Lyra. She undid the blindfold and Serafina closed her eyes to protect them from the light coming in from the cube door. She slowly opened them to see the face of her friend smiling at her.  
  
"I'll undo the cords now." She released Serafina but the witch could barely move. She looked around the inside of the cube, her prison. There were what Will would have recognized as speakers on the walls and several small ventilation grills. She sensed that the chemical smell in the air came from them.  
  
"Lyra, you must get away from here," she repeated. "These witches are strange, terrible. I don't understand what they are doing, but everything about them seems wrong." She struggled to get up but could not manage it yet.  
  
"Serafina, I have so much to tell you but this isn't the place to start giving explanations. Just listen to me. Will is here, in our world. He's going to help get you out. But your clan is on its way to rescue you as well."  
  
"No!" cried Serafina. "They mustn't. These witches have weapons. They will destroy my clan. How do they know I'm here?"  
  
"They sent Saeunn Leira to get me to use the alethiometer to find you. We didn't know about any weapons."  
  
"Who is this Saeunn Leira?" asked Serafina.  
  
Lyra gaped at her.  
  
"She said that she was one of your clan, that they had sent her."  
  
"There is no one in my clan of that name," said Serafina, "and what do you mean Will is here?"  
  
"This isn't the time for explanations," said Lyra. "We can talk later. Can you walk? Will you be able to fly if we can find a cloud pine branch?"  
  
With Lyra's help Serafina managed to stumble out of the cube. Straightaway she felt better, but she could still hardly walk and Lyra could see that she was unlikely to be able to fly.  
  
Will saw that as well as the two approached him. He had sent Kirjava to the top of the tunnel to keep watch but no one had appeared so far.  
  
"How did you come to be here?" Serafina asked him.  
  
"We can discuss that along with several other things I want an explanation for," Will replied, a little more harshly than he had intended. He was a little stung by her question when he had come here to rescue her.  
  
"Come on. Let's get out," said Lyra. They helped Serafina up the passage. She felt better the longer she was out of the cube but she still felt a little sick and very tired. They reached the warehouse room and stopped to let her get her breath back. She stared round at the contents of the room in disbelief.  
  
"What are they doing?" she whispered.  
  
"Where did they get all this stuff from?" asked Will.  
  
"From the battle with The Authority. That's what they told me. They said they wanted power and that these weapons would help them get it. But who is this Saeunn Leira? I have never heard the name before. Are you sure she was a witch?"  
  
"Oh yes," said Will. "She was a witch alright." He was thinking of the witch who had killed his Father. He still didn't understand that. Surely the witch should have understood that his Father was going to remain faithful to his Mother?  
  
Suddenly Kirjava ran back towards them.  
  
"Two witches have just come into the room with the machines."  
  
"Are they coming down here?" Will asked getting to his feet.  
  
"No. Not yet. They were talking and stopping to look at one of the machines," she paused. "I know this sounds strange but I think one of them may have been Saeunn Leira." 


	10. escape

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
"If they come this way we have two choices," said Will. "We can hide in here, let them go past and try to get out through the house, or we can try and open the big metal gate and see where that leads."  
  
"As soon as they see the door at the top of the tunnel they will see the lock has been cut out," replied Lyra.  
  
"Let's take another look at the gate then. I couldn't see any controls before." Will was still in command. Serafina was not feeling well enough to offer any advice yet. However, Will was starting to become more worried. They didn't know where the gate would lead to even if they did manage to open it.  
  
"Pan," said Lyra. "Could you go and watch the witches up in that machine room? Let us know if it looks as if they are coming down."  
  
Pan set off. Kirjava followed. They reached the top of the stairs and peered into the room. They could just see the witches in about the centre of the room. They were looking at a machine that looked like a box with a table like surface on the top of it.  
  
Pan looked at the witches carefully. Kirjava was right Saeunn Leira was one of them and she certainly didn't look like she was a captive.  
  
Saeunn Leira pressed a button on the side of the machine they were looking at and a shower of sparks shot of the top of the table. The other witch jumped back in surprise and Saeunn laughed.  
  
Pan started to move towards the witches.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" hissed Kirjava.  
  
"We need information," replied Pan. "We need to try to find out what is going on. You stay here."  
  
He carefully moved towards the witches until he could hear what they were saying.  
  
".. the boy got there I don't know. He must still have the knife. Can you imagine what I could do if I had the knife to cut doors into other worlds. The alethiometer will be useful of course and I know that was the main aim in luring her here, but the knife! And the boy will be useful as well."  
  
"How so?" asked the other witch.  
  
Saeunn threw her a filthy look.  
  
"Torturing Lyra in order to get her to read the alethiometer for us is a waste of time. Even if we broke her she is a renowned liar. We could never trust what she told us. But if we were to threaten her friend Serafina with the delights of this room, with Lyra present, I was sure she would give us everything we want without daring to lie. If we have the boy in our power and threaten to tie him to this table, well, I think she will beg us to let her co-operate."  
  
"They have strong feelings for each other then?" asked the witch.  
  
"Oh yes! You could say that," Saeunn replied.  
  
"How long will it take them to get here?"  
  
"Not long. They mentioned some sort of craft but the Master did not want to let them have it." Saeunn paused. "He suspected something I think, but it is very hard to judge him. We must set a watch for them. In the meantime I think we should introduce Serafina Pekkala to this beauty." She patted the machine in front of them. "It's not just the amount of pain it inflicts, it's the spectacular nature of it. Yes. We practice on Serafina, then we capture Lyra and the boy, then we torture the boy in front of her and then we start asking the alethiometer questions."  
  
"When do you want to start?" asked the witch.  
  
"No time like the present," laughed Saeunn. "The cube should have drained her severely by now. A little electric current should be quite stimulating for her."  
  
"Electric?" asked the witch.  
  
"Oh, anbaric," said Saeunn dismissively. "Come on you can help me drag her up here."  
  
Pan was already running back to the stairs down to the warehouse room. Kirjava saw him coming and sped off.  
  
Lyra, Will and Serafina stood together looking at the door.  
  
"Is it controlled by a spell?" Lyra wondered out loud.  
  
"No, I don't think so," replied Serafina. "Anyway I think this dates from when The Church occupied this building. There may be a secret switch somewhere."  
  
"Or perhaps it has to be operated from the other side," suggested Will. "I'll just have to cut a hole in it with the knife." He drew the knife and started to push it through the door.  
  
"You didn't break it!" accused Serafina staring at the knife. "You didn't break it and you've used it to return here. Don't you realize what you've done?"  
  
Will lost patience.  
  
"Yes, I did break the knife. No, I don't know how it's been remade. I didn't cut a window to get here. And as to knowing the implications of what I've done, well, I would like a full explanation from you as to what the results of our actions have been."  
  
"Stop it both of you!" said Lyra, hating to see her friends arguing. "Come on Will, let's get through the door."  
  
Will cut a hole big enough for them to crawl through. The door was about two inches thick but that did not pose a problem for the knife. He pulled the piece of metal back just as first Kirjava and then Pan streaked back into the room sounding their warning of the witches arrival.  
  
Lyra, Serafina and the daemons scrambled through the gap. Will tried to drag a crate in front of the hole he had created and squeezed through as well. He propped up the cut out piece of metal back in its place, but it was obvious that there escape route would soon be discovered.  
  
He turned round to see where they were going now and felt an icy touch of fear. The tunnel behind the gate sloped downwards not up. Lyra and Serafina had already set off and Will realized that there was nothing else they could do.  
  
The tunnel was unlit so Will used his torch to light the way. He joined Lyra and Serafina helping to support Serafina on one side with Lyra on her other. Even with their help, however, she was soon exhausted.  
  
"Stop a moment," said Will. He threw Serafina over his shoulder and set off again. There was no sound of pursuit yet. Pan repeated everything he had heard the witches saying.  
  
Lyra shivered as she heard their intentions regarding the alethiometer and herself.  
  
"I can't even read it very well. Saeunn saw me trying to read it in the Masters house. She must know that."  
  
"Maybe she thought you were putting on a show," said Will. "She must have heard how good you used to be at it."  
  
"Will?" he heard Serafina say.  
  
"Yes," he replied, sounding curter than he realized.  
  
"I am sorry I questioned you." She was trying to be as dignified as a witch queen should be even in such circumstances as this. "I was wrong. I know what you have done in the past, at terrible risk to yourself and I should have known better than to doubt you."  
  
Will stopped and Serafina was very glad at the moment that they were not able to look at each other as she knew she still would not be able to look into his eyes.  
  
"Serafina Pekkala. I am sorry. I should not have been so rude to you. Lyra and I want your help and to see if you can answer some of our questions. Now since you and I have agreed to stop making fools of ourselves let's find our way out of here.  
  
"Look!" shouted Lyra. "The floor is changing, it's starting to slope upwards."  
  
They set off again. The floor started to slope up more and more until Will was starting to find it hard going.  
  
"What are we going to do when we get out?" asked Serafina. "I don't know if I can fly even if we find a cloud pine and I certainly can't carry you two."  
  
"We will have to decide when we get out," replied Will. Lyra and I came here in a flying craft and two of us can escape in that if we can get to it. If not," he hesitated. "I may have to cut a window. I know we probably shouldn't, but if we need to in order to save ourselves from that Saeunn Leira, then I'm going to have to do it."  
  
They reached the end of the tunnel. It was covered by a huge wooden trapdoor. Will tried to push it up but it was too heavy. He was starting to reach for the knife again when Lyra found a control panel inset into the wall. Pressing a large green button caused the trapdoor to slowly creak upwards. They walked the last few steps out of the tunnel and found themselves in a large barn.  
  
They couldn't find a control to close the trapdoor but when Will pushed it the door closed by itself. The barn was large but deserted. There was some old farm machinery in a corner. With the trapdoor closed it was almost impossible to see. The secret way into the cellars beneath the mansion was well disguised.  
  
Will went to the barn door and carefully eased it open to look outside. The sun was well up now, but there was no one in sight. They all knew that they had to move on quickly. They still hadn't heard any sign of pursuit but the witches obviously knew that the barn was where the tunnel opened.  
  
Will stepped outside the barn and a patch of ground ten feet in front of him exploded in flames, throwing him back through the door.  
  
"You fool! I need them alive," a voice shrieked somewhere outside.  
  
Will lay stunned on the floor. Lyra slammed the barn door closed and ran to help him up.  
  
"Quick, cut a window," she cried.  
  
Will struggled to his feet and drew the knife. The barn door exploded and the space inside filled with smoke. Will felt forwards with the knife and quickly found a familiar strand. The land of the Mulefa. He cut a window and seizing Lyra with one hand and Serafina with the other he dragged them through. The daemons jumped after them and just as Will was about to close the window Kaisa appeared and soared through to join them.  
  
Will reached to close the window. He saw several witches running into the smoke filled barn but he was quick enough to find the edges and seal the opening before any of them could get through. The last thing he saw in the barn was the furious face of Saeunn Leira as she aimed something that resembled a missile launcher at him.  
  
The gap closed and the smoke that had billowed through with them dissipated in the clear sunny sky. 


	11. tracing

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
For several minutes they simply lay on the grass recovering from the shock of their narrow escape. Serafina sank down to half sit and half lie on the grass. Kaisa settled just in front of her.  
  
Lyra was the first to regain her wits.  
  
"Are you alright Will?"  
  
Will nodded. He was a little scratched and bruised but otherwise unhurt. All of their heads were ringing from the explosions.  
  
Lyra looked around. They were on a gentle slope with a stream a few hundred yards away. They had nothing to eat but at least they could drink and wash themselves. She marked the place where they had entered this world and led them down to the stream.  
  
She helped Will to wash his cuts and scrapes. When she turned to him again, after washing herself, she found he had fallen asleep, exhausted by the journey north from Oxford and the action in the manor house. A few minutes later Lyra was also asleep.  
  
Will woke up first. It was dusk and Serafina had managed to gather enough wood to start a small fire and was sat on the other side of it. They regarded each other through the wisps of smoke. Serafina was first to break their gaze.  
  
"Did you manage to sleep at all?" he asked trying to keep the conversation neutral until Lyra woke up.  
  
"I didn't sleep. I've slept enough recently, but I do feel much better for sitting in the sun in the clean air."  
  
She looked at Lyra, smiling in her sleep.  
  
"I don't think I've thanked you properly for rescuing me," she started and abruptly changed the subject. "I can do that when Lyra wakes up. Will, you are angry with me." It was a statement rather than a question.  
  
"Yes," he replied.  
  
"Not just about my suggestion that you had not broken the knife. You have been angry with me for some time."  
  
"Yes," he replied again, keeping his answers short to make her do the talking.  
  
"You blame me for separating you from Lyra?" she asked.  
  
"No," he said, but realized that he would have to expand his answer this time. "I blame Xaphania for not doing more to help us. I want to know what she meant when she said that the angels would deal with the spectres. Perhaps I'm just a teenager raging about the unfairness of life. I think that is what Mary thought. But looking back it seems strange that after all we had been through and all the impossible things we had done we just allowed ourselves to be convinced that we had to live separately and we went along with it." He paused. "I blame you for supporting Xaphania instead of supporting us."  
  
He looked up and saw the witch was looking at Lyra.  
  
"I spent the first few hours when you were asleep wondering how I was going to persuade you to go back to your own worlds," she said. "I was even thinking of how I might have to take the knife off you. Then Kaisa asked me why I wasn't trying to think of a way for you to be together. When I spoke to Xaphania everything she said seemed to make sense. Now I am not so sure."  
  
They sat in silence for several minutes and then Lyra stirred and woke up. She smiled at Will and then at Serafina. She could sense a reduction in the tension between them and was relieved.  
  
They talked into the night looking like three conspirators in the flickering firelight. Serafina told them all she remembered from her conversations with Xaphania and Will and Lyra did he same. The problem still came to the same thing time and again. They had to return to their own world on a regular basis and the windows between the worlds had to remain closed. But why couldn't they cut windows if the Angels could "deal" with the spectres?  
  
Serafina raised the question of the republic of heaven and was quite shocked to see both Will and Lyra so dismissive about it and their possible role in creating it.  
  
"It just isn't realistic," said Will. "Not without help. Yes I can do what I can to be kind and cheerful but in the world I live in that isn't going to make a great deal of difference. In Lyra and your world we have just escaped from people who intended to torture you and me to get Lyra to do what they wanted. Yes it may be their actions that are evil rather than the people themselves but being good and kind and gentle wasn't going to help us against them."  
  
The other issue was the knife itself. Will insisted that he had broken the knife as he had said he would and when Serafina inspected it she could see the blade was different from the last time she had seen it. She agreed with the Master that it had been pattern welded.  
  
"It would take great skill to reforge the blade. Iorek mended it piece by piece but to reforge a weapon like this in such a way would be incredibly difficult. As difficult as creating it in the first place with the added complication of the pattern welding."  
  
"Do you know who could have done it?" asked Will.  
  
"No," Serafina replied. "Have you asked the alethiometer?"  
  
Lyra shook her head.  
  
"I can't think how to phrase the question."  
  
"We could try to narrow it down by asking simple questions," suggested Serafina. "Instead of asking who reforged it we could try to work out where the work was done. Was it in Will's world or Citagazze or our world?"  
  
They narrowed the problem down but only by eliminating places. Will and Lyra had been sure that Citagazze would be the place but the alethiometer denied this and that the Guild of alchemists had been involved. They asked whether Iorek had done it but to Lyra's relief the response was negative. To the surprise of Lyra and Serafina, Will suggested Xaphania had something to do with it, but the answer was still no.  
  
Lyra tried asking outright who had reforged the knife, but she could not make any sense of the answer.  
  
"There is something else we could try," said Serafina thoughtfully. "I could try a combination of a finding spell and a returning spell which we could cast on the knife itself. That would then allow you to cut a door into the world where the knife was reforged."  
  
Will and Lyra agreed that was a good idea, but she warned them that they would have to return to her own world to be able to cast the spell.  
  
"I think we need to do that anyway," said Lyra. "We need to get back to the intention craft. Saeunn Leira might find it and discover what it can do. We can't let that happen."  
  
"You're right," said Will. "But I don't think she could use it herself. You need to have a daemon to be able to use it and I don't think that she has one. I think she comes from my world, or at least not from yours. Pan said she talked about electricity but you don't use that word in your world."  
  
Lyra looked astounded at the idea but Serafina was nodding.  
  
"She is totally unlike any witch I have come across before. I think you could well be right."  
  
"Alright," said Will. "We should go back soon while it's still dark and we need to be some distance from the barn in case they are still watching it. We should get back to the craft and get it away from Saeunn. Are you going to be able to fly?" he asked Serafina.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Yes, as long as I can find a cloud pine branch and I don't think that should be a problem. When we get to somewhere safe I will work the spell, but then I need to get back to my clan to warn them. Wait for me to get back and we can carry on together."  
  
Will shook his head.  
  
"Lyra and I will proceed as soon as we have found out where the knife was reforged."  
  
Lyra did not look happy but Serafina knew she would side with Will.  
  
"You don't trust me anymore," she said.  
  
"I do trust you. But I have confidence in Lyra and myself to do what we need to do. I think you need to sort out the problems of the witches. We can't do that but you can."  
  
Lyra and Serafina both nodded their agreement.  
  
They tried to estimate the position of the craft in the other world and walked to that spot.  
  
"Is there anything else we need to do before I cut through?" asked Will.  
  
"Wait for just a moment," said Serafina and she looked straight into his eyes. He held her gaze for a few moments and then she looked away. She looked into Lyra's eyes. Lyra smiled at her but although Serafina was able to look longer than she had with Will she still looked away first.  
  
"What is it?" asked Lyra.  
  
"I had thought that your destiny was fulfilled. That you had done what it was intended for you to do but I sense the power in both of you. That there is more to come. I am afraid for you and afraid for all the rest of us."  
  
Will drew the knife and created a window back into Lyra's world. 


	12. battle

Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of the other characters in this story. His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and all related characters, concepts, and commercial offspring are the property of Philip Pullman, Scholastic Books, Random House Inc, New Line Cinema and all other right-holders. This is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon any commercial endeavours.  
  
Will peered through the opening but was unable to make much out. Dawn was just beginning to mark the eastern horizon but it was still dark. There was nothing for it but for them all to emerge and find the craft as quickly as possible. Will wanted to close the window as quickly as possible.  
  
There guess about the position of the craft had been good but not perfect. They were a couple of hundred yards away. As soon as Will had closed the window they all tried to look all around to see if they were being watched.  
  
It was very quiet. They remained where they were for several minutes trying to get their bearings before setting off for the craft's hiding place. Just as they came up to it Serafina suddenly looked up and stifled a cry.  
  
Will and Lyra followed her gaze and saw several score of witches silently flying towards the mansion.  
  
"We must stop them," gasped Serafina.  
  
"Are they all from your clan?" asked Will.  
  
"My clan and several others. Saeunn must have sent a message that I was held here, luring them into a trap. Stay here. I will try to warn them."  
  
She ran to a nearby stand of trees and broke off a branch. Instantly she was astride it and flying up towards the other witches. It seemed she might be in time but suddenly a bolt of lightening flashed up from the mansion. As it reached the centre of the flight of witches it burst into a purple explosion scattering the flyers, flinging some of them off their branches.  
  
The first blast was followed by another and another. Then several smaller bolts shot out in a continuous burst. The sound of the detonations belatedly reached Will and Lyra's ears.  
  
A jet of fire erupted a hundred feet into the air and the more familiar sound of ordinary firearms became heard.  
  
The witches were in disarray. Some of them had seen Serafina and were trying to rally to her. Others were hurtling down to the mansion to try and carry the fight to their attackers. Many were already dead or desperately injured.  
  
"Will, stay here," shouted Lyra as she started to run to the craft.  
  
"What are you doing?" he called after her.  
  
"The craft has some sort of weapons. I have to try and help them." She jumped into the cockpit and took off instantly leaving Will on the ground. He looked up at the craft as it headed straight for the heart of the danger and ignoring her instruction to stay where he was, he set off towards the barn.  
  
Serafina had not been injured in the initial volley of fire from the mansion. Her first intention had been to stop the attack, to warn them of the weapons that their enemy had. But she realized that to try and retreat now would probably lead to death of them all. There was nothing to do but press home the attack no matter how suicidal that seemed to be. She was totally unprepared for the explosions, which now hit the mansion itself. At first she thought something within the mansion had blown up. But then she became aware of the machine that Lyra was flying and that the devastation being rained down on the mansion and its surroundings was coming from that craft.  
  
In fact Lyra was hitting the grounds around the mansion more than the house itself. She had not used the weapons since she had found out about them by accident the first time she flew. She had no idea how to aim them and was terrified of hitting the witches on her side as they darted through the air. She was even more afraid of what Will was going to say to her when she landed.  
  
"But I had to help, Pan," she said, hoping her daemon would agree with her. "There wasn't time to show Will the buttons to press and I'm better at flying anyway. We couldn't try to do this with both of us in the cockpit. There was nothing else we could do."  
  
Will was almost at the spot where the barn had been. He could see that it had been burned to the ground and he was hoping that the trapdoor was still there and that he could get it to open. He looked up to see the craft firing at the mansion.  
  
He was not angry with Lyra, just terrified that she might get hurt. The weapons fire from the house had stopped but he was sure that it was going to be redirected at Lyra at any moment. Even if he got to the machine room under the mansion to try and stop Saeunn's witches he was going to be too late, but he didn't see what else he could do.  
  
Just like Lyra, he thought wryly. She gets a thought and acts on it the next instant.  
  
He reached the site of the barn and saw that the entrance to the tunnel was open, the trapdoors stuck in a half open position. He went inside and plunged into the darkness.  
  
Just after he disappeared underground the first witches landed at the mansion. Will didn't see Lyra stop firing and turn the machine away. Orange and violet light streaked after her as the defenders of the mansion finally managed to turn their attention to her, but they were not accurate enough and she was away and flying behind a hill before they could correct their aim.  
  
Will continued down the tunnel but it was not long before he could see nothing in the darkness. He was reluctant to use the torch but he really didn't have any choice. He snapped it on and partially covered the beam with his hand to reduce the amount of light being produced.  
  
"What exactly do you have in mind?" asked Kirjava.  
  
"I want to get inside to stop them using those weapons. If Lyra can divert their attention and I can shutdown some of their machines then Serafina's witches might have half a chance."  
  
Kirjava darted off down the tunnel. Moving faster than Will she would see any trouble before he ran into it and her cat eyes did not need the amount of light that Will's did.  
  
Suddenly at a point where Will guessed he was about halfway down the tunnel Kirjava came running back.  
  
"Someone's coming up the tunnel towards us. They have a torch but it doesn't seem to be working very well."  
  
Will clicked off his own torch and drew the knife. He stepped back against one of the walls trying to merge into it and waited for the person to approach.  
  
He heard her before he saw her. Just one person, muttering and cursing to herself.  
  
"Trust me to pick the only lighter that doesn't work." There was the sound of something being banged against a wall and a light flicked on briefly only to die again after a couple of seconds.  
  
Will's fingers curled tighter around the knife's handle. The voice was that of Saeunn Leira. She banged the lighter against the wall several more times but it did not relight.  
  
"Nothing from this damn world is any good. Why did I have to end up here? And with this bunch of incompetent morons"  
  
A huge explosion rocked the ground above their heads. Saeunn stumbled and Will seized his opportunity. He was only a few steps from her and he quickly and silently covered them to grab Saeunn's arm and raise the knife to her throat. She froze instantly.  
  
"Who are you?" she hissed.  
  
Will switched on his own lighter directing the beam into her eyes.  
  
"Never mind who I am. Where do you think you are going? It doesn't sound as if the battle is over but you are leaving already."  
  
Will had underestimated his opponent. She could not see him though the glare and was not stupid to grapple with him especially now she knew which knife was threatening her. She had recognized his voice.  
  
"Will. So you came back. Where was it that you got to? Another world? Can you just pick and choose where you go?"  
  
"I am going to ask the questions," he snapped back.  
  
"But Will, you are so bad at asking the right questions. There is so little you understand and yet you are making such big decisions." Saeunn was relaxing already. She knew that Will would not kill her but she wanted to get out of the tunnel before it collapsed.  
  
"If I know so little perhaps you would like to provide with some more information. But first I need to shutdown some of your firepower."  
  
Saeunn shook her head, carefully, as the knife was still close to her skin.  
  
"The battle is over - the main part at any rate. I put a little too much faith in the capabilities of this witch clan. This is a fight we should have won easily but will lose because they cannot push the right buttons when it matters. They will soon be overwhelmed. That last explosion was the consequence of one of the secondary power sources overloading. I think we should get out before the primary source goes."  
  
Will looked at her doubtfully. He knew she was a liar but a second shaking of the tunnel walls convinced him that getting out of the tunnel was a good idea.  
  
"Come on lets go." He gestured for her to start walking and took up a position behind her. She set off at a brisk pace but Will was easily able to keep up.  
  
"You are not from this world are you?" he asked.  
  
She laughed.  
  
"No as I think you have guessed I am from the same world as you. During the Great War I signed up with Lord Asriel's army but I was the only one of my people to survive that battle." She stopped abruptly and Will nearly ran her through by accident.  
  
"So what are you doing in this world?" he asked as they set off again.  
  
"During the battle I came across another witch clan from this world. They had given up trying to use their own powers in the face of the military technology being used against them. They were trying to use an electro- cannon because they had seen what it was capable of but they really didn't have a clue."  
  
"And you did?" asked Will sarcastically.  
  
"Yes, actually I did. I may have been a witch in our world but that is not all that I was. Anyway the battle was virtually over by this point. I realised that this type of technology could be useful in the sort of world these witches came from. There was plenty of it lying around after the battle so we took what we wanted before the portals were all closed. I have been trying to get them to understand how to work these machines since then but as you can tell it hasn't been a great success."  
  
They were approaching the opening to the tunnel when a huge explosion threw them off their feet. They both scrambled, half crawling, half running to get out of the tunnel before it fell in on them. They collapsed out onto the open ground breathing hard.  
  
Will looked around in the early morning light to see the smoking ruin of the mansion. Bodies were spread all around. There didn't appear to be any witches in the air.  
  
"You know what that knife is called?" said Saeunn suddenly. Will just looked at her.  
  
"The god-destroyer. Did it ever occur to you that you were instrumental in destroying the old order? That you were then split up from the only other person who knew what you had been through. That you then destroyed the only means you had of rejoining that person. That, with the same action, you destroyed the only weapon that could threaten the leader of the new order."  
  
"Xaphania," breathed Will.  
  
"Xaphania is the same type of Angel as the Authority." Saeunn continued. "What makes you think that the new order will be any better for the likes of us?"  
  
Will could do nothing but stare at her. 


End file.
